You mean I don't get to see him?
by gods sent angel
Summary: When Sam leaps into a 17 year old girl about to enter college, he finds out some stories will never have a happy ending.
1. Prologue

It was a beautiful spring day in New Mexico when the girl entered the ground level of Project Quantum Leap. Just from looking at her security could tell there was something off. She was no taller then 5' 4" and had long brown hair which barely covered what her shirt didn't as it hung over her shoulder. A pair of ripped and faded blue jeans and a badly serrated t-shirt were the only clothes she wore. She stood in the middle of the main lobby and stared about as if seeing the place again after a long time of being away. Slowly she began to come out of her stupor; shaking away the last remnants of some vague memory she lurched forward to the receptionist's desk. She leaned against it heavily, giving the woman behind the counter an unsavory view of her cleavage over the top of her loose-fitting and torn t-shirt. The receptionist watched as the poor girl clawed at the desktop as if she were holding on for dear life lest someone try to pry her away. Turning to look the receptionist straight in the eye she began to pant.

"I need to see Ziggy," she wheezed. She looked about ready to collapse and the desk worker felt sorry for her.

"I'm sorry," she said. "No one is allowed beyond this point without proper qualification."

"You don't understand," the girl pleaded. "I need to see Ziggy. It's urgent." The lady stared at her for a second before calling Dr. Beeks up to the lobby. The young lady had heard this and became agitated. "I don't need Verbeena," she barked. "I need Ziggy. I must speak to Ziggy."

As she was saying this, Dr. Verbeena Beeks entered the lobby. Seeing the girl clinging desperately to the receptionist's table she quickly dialed for a medical team on the curtsey phone beside her. The girl saw her and seemed somewhat relieved. Leaving the table she stumbled over to the psychiatrist and grabbed her blouse.

"Verbeena," she gasped, "Verbeena, I have to speak to Ziggy. Please, let me speak to her." Verbeena looked down at the girl clutching her shirt with befuddlement. She could have sworn she recognized those eyes from somewhere, but she couldn't quite place them. The girl continued to look up at her, entrancing her with those mournful blue eyes. Blue with an under-shadowing of...brown? Yes, she recognized those eyes; the sorrow and the pain, the fright and the loneliness. If only she could place that haunting look of being lost and alone. But she couldn't. Shaking her head she turned the girl over to the medical team that had just arrived.

"I'm sorry," she said firmly yet gently, "all access to Ziggy and the lower floors is restricted to personnel only." The girl stared at her, betrayed, as they strapped her to the gurney.

"NO!" she screamed. "Verbeena please! Ziggy! Ziggy, I need you! I need to talk to you! ZIGGY!!!" The paramedics looked sadly at Dr. Beeks, shaking their heads at what they assumed was just another loony. The girl did not abate her screams as they began to wheel her off. As they began to pull her closer to the door, Verbeena heard her change her cry to one that seemed senseless to her. "ZIGGY!!!" she was screaming. As she neared the door, she gave one last attempt. "004-002-02-016!!! 004-002-02-016!!! Ziggy, please! 004-002-02-016!!!" The paramedics paid it no mind as they began to wheel her away. Before they even got her half out, however, Ziggy's voice filled the room.

"Dr. Beeks, please bring the visitor to me for further interrogation," she said in her usual sweet tone. Verbeena jumped a little and the paramedics stopped; bringing the now quiet girl back after a few seconds and un-strapping her. She seemed a little shocked her self, but headed down the corridors to the console room without even a thought as to which way she was headed. This did not escape Dr. Beek's notice, but she pushed the thought from her head as she followed the girl to the housing of Ziggy. When they arrived, the door slid open to admit the girl entrance. Verbeena tried to follow but the door snapped shut curtly in front of her. A little put-out, she decided to go to the cafeteria while she waited. Arriving there, she found that her colleagues seated around a table, eating lunch.

"Gooshie," she said as she came closer. "Shouldn't you be helping Sam and Al?" The short little man shrugged and took a bite of his sandwich.

"Ziggy forced us out of the control room about fifteen minutes ago," he replied through a mouthful of food. "She said she could handle them; said she had some other business." Verbeena sighed and sat down with her co-workers. A few minutes later a piercing shriek rang out from Ziggy's control room. Worried that the crazed girl might have done something to Ziggy, Verbeena sped toward the console room, the other doctor's close behind. When they arrived, the door slid open before them, revealing the crazed girl Verbeena had left there lying prone on the floor in front of the door.

"Please have her sent to a medical facility within the project," Ziggy commanded. "She is not to be disturbed." Ziggy's orders were carried out quickly. All were curious as to what had happened, but Ziggy would not acknowledge anything regarding the girl's existence, let alone her conversation. The colleagues knew that the girl would be no better even if they could wake her. Ziggy had probably erased her memory to keep whatever it was confidential. The project workers dismissed the incident quickly; they had other fish to fry.


	2. Last Chance Summer Dance

A/N Wow, the fan fiction in this section is lacking and while all the stories I've read are great...where's the variety!? Well, I'm going to give you some Don't own...except me...I own me...sometimes.

Muse::: You're nuts, you know that?

Me::: And you're a perv. Deal with it.

Muse::: Hey, don't you go there!

Me::: Make me, Sexy! Rowr

End above insaneness

Amanda awoke in a white room occupied by a bed and a few odds and ends. She began to sit up, but pain began to shoot through her head at the movement, forcing her to stop. She reached up and grabbed her forehead, expecting to feel blood, or at least the sting of salt from her hands entering the wound.

_Wait a minute..._she thought. _ How did I hurt my head?_

That, however was the least of her concerns when the hand she lifted to her temple was not her own. She felt her forehead, noticing that the slightly oily skin, smooth with her youth, had been replaced with dry, furrowed skin, and no laceration was on her brow.

_What happened to my hands?_ She panicked. _ And why is my skin so nasty? I feel so...tall, and old!_

She stared down at her body, seeing nothing familiar there, either. Her head was beginning to clear of its earlier fogginess as she observed her lack of curves, belly ring, and actual clothes. In their place was a lean, muscular stick figure in a white cat-suit. She felt taller, too, but that wasn't very hard to believe. She barely broke the 5' mold with a measly 5'1/16".

"Mirror," she murmured to herself. "I need a mirror."

-----

Al watched as his friend's body was being explored. It was a girl, he could tell that much, and a rather cute one at that. Al could see the person for who they really were physically, unlike the other workers on the project. It was a "gift" from being connected to Sam by a neuro-link.

Observing the girl, he felt slightly grateful that there was no real panic or terror in the inhibitor this time. Trying to calm screaming nobodies without knowing a darn about them really wasn't much fun. He watched attentively as the newcomer cast about the room. The first few times it had been interesting, amusing even. Now it was just routine. He waited for who ever it was to come to terms with their surroundings, find themselves in the mirror even, before going to talk to them now. It just made thing easier.

He watched as she moved toward where the mirror was, still oblivious to its actual location by the looks of it. The girl inhabiting Sam's body turned, locating the piece of reflective glass, and got her first real glimpse of just what she looked like to others. Al braced himself for the scream, but it never came. Puzzled he stared at the image playing out before him. The girl was staring at her self with astonishment, running her hands over Sam's face. She began to play with the lock of white hair in Sam's bangs and smiled. Al was dumbfounded. He'd never seen anyone react like _this_ before.

"Oh my GOSH!!!" she screamed, excitement growing with every word. By the end of the one simple sentence she was shrieking in hysterics. For a second Al thought it had finally dawned on her, but to his amazement he realized that she had been in hysterical elation, not horror.

_What is wrong with this girl?_ He wondered to himself. He tore past the other members of the project who had been watching with him, taking no note of their equally confused expressions. He ran down the corridor to the room where the leapees were kept and threw open the door. What greeted him was just as unorthodox as the rest of this leaps behavior. As the door zinged open, the girl inhabiting Sam's body turned to him, abandoning the white strand.

"No way!" she squealed loudly, hugging herself and jumping up and down like a four year old who just ate an entire can of coffee beans. She stopped long enough to stare at him dreamily and sigh: "Pinch me, I'm dreaming." With that, she fainted. Al stared at 'Sam's' collapsed body in alarm for a moment before moving to place it on the bed. The real Sam was going to have fun impersonating this freak.

----

Sam felt himself melding into a body being jostled about mercilessly. A pang above his right eye alerted him to the fact that he was hurt, but no one around him seemed to notice. They were all staring forward at a stage where some band was playing. He didn't recognize them, but he was sure that he didn't need to. He looked down at himself and saw the dreaded signs of a female body. A black miniskirt showed way too much leg for his comfort and a silvery tube top was the only thing that covered his upper torso. A glint of silver affixed to his belly button alerted him to the piercing there, apparently a playboy bunny inlaid with rhinestones.

"Not a girl _again_," he whined. He was startled by a voice beside him answering his statement.

"It might be a chic," it laughed. "but Avril Lavigne _ROCKS_!!!" Sam looked up at the voices origin and saw a short blonde teenage girl wearing a hot pink tube top and black miniskirt. Sam stared at her in confusion as she gasped. "Oh my fuckin' God! Errin," she squealed in concern, "your forehead! What happened?"

"I don't know," Sam slurred, still dazed by the pace of events. Whoever he was this time was named Errin, obviously. The girl put a hand on the wound on Sam's temple and he hissed as the pain erupted.

"Don't touch it!" he pleaded. "I'll take care of it." He reached up to do just that, but was hit hard in the back of the head.

"Stop being dumb," she replied, bringing her hand back to the front of Sam's head and fiddled with the wound again.

"No," Sam persisted, not wanting to get this girl too involved, not sure who she was. "I know what I'm doing, I can handle it." The other girl, apparently Errin's friend, folded her arms a crossed her chest, unconvinced.

"Oh right," she scoffed. "With what, your shirt?" the other girl pointed to the far wall opposite the stage. "To the bathroom now, woman." Sam obliged, not really sure what else to do.

_I hope Al get here soon_ he prayed.

------

Al was beginning to leave the waiting room when he heard the girl stir. He turned to see the excited face had not lost any of its spunk during the episode. Instead it seemed to have become more hyper. He saw a mischievous glint in her eyes and got a very bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. She smiled evilly at him and began to move forward on the bed very seductively.

"My, you're big," she smirked. Al began to panic. What was her problem?

"What?" he questioned. She threw her head back and laughed evilly.

"Anything goes sex fu attack," she said as if it explained everything, posing in some strange kung fu like position on the bed, "Feigned Faint! Guys _never_ pay attention to where your hands are when they think you're unconscious." Al went white as he realized what she was saying. She had pretended to faint so she could feel him up when he put her on the bed. "And your so gentle," she continued, slumping into a dreamy mess on the bed.

_This girl is a psychopath!_ He decided. She continued, unaware, or at least unconcerned of his thoughts.

"Beth was such a loser bitch to leave you," she sighed disappointedly.

Pain washed over him at the very mention of Beth, as well as rage for the heartless words regarding her. He felt his face begin to turn red and the tears swell in his eyes.

"But don't worry," the girl said nonchalantly, "Sam fixes all that. It almost made me happy, but it was sad because he never got to come home." Al sputtered a bit, not knowing what to say. The girl quickly became bouncy again, though, leaving Al little time to dwell on her words. "I'm sorry, Al," she smiled. "I shouldn't have said anything. My name's Errin, but almost everybody calls me Kitty, or Angel." Al just stared at her.

"How did you..."

"Know your name?" she finished for him. "I'm an obsessed fan, Al, I know...well, I know a lot."

"Oh," was all he could think of to say. None of this made any sense to him, and he really didn't know what to do except let her keep talking, hoping she might tell them something useful.

"Why am I here, anyways?" she asked, suddenly very attentive. Al was starting to worry that maybe she had serious mental issues that they might need to take care of.

"We're not sure," he answered. She just shrugged.

"Can I help?" she asked sweetly.

"Um, no," Al replied uncertainly. "You can't leave this room, actually." Errin stiffened in shock and anger.

"You mean I don't get to see him!?!?!" she wailed. Al cringed at the high pitched noise.

"No," he said tentatively. He didn't want to make this episode go out of hand, but at the same time he didn't want her following him around.

"But there's so much you won't understand!" She pleaded. "What about our inside jokes? Our closeness? You only get so much from the history books." Al didn't know what to say; she was right.

"Well, as long as Sam doesn't freak Nicki out, we should all be good," she finished, reclining on the bed with a sigh. She chuckled to herself. "Poor Nicki. She thought I was bad!"

------

Sam was herded into the women's bathroom by the other girl and instructed to sit on the counter. He turned to the sinks and caught the first glimpse of his new body in the mirror behind them. He was in the body of a teenage girl, probably about 17 by the look of her. She was wearing a tube top and miniskirt as he had seen earlier, but looking in the mirror told him that the skirt was much shorter than he had at first guessed; it barely hit her thighs. Long dark brown hair cascaded down to her mid-back, some of it over her shoulder as well; the red tips were barely long enough to dangle over the edge of her breasts. Greenish hazel eyes gaped back at him in the reflection as he stared in awe of the creamy skin and full lips that completed her face. She was quite beautiful, though dangerously under dressed.

"Are you okay?" The other girl's question roused him from his reflection. Mentally shaking himself, he grabbed some paper towels to clean a space to sit on.

After he wiped down the countertop, he did as he was told, making sure to sit on a goody pile of clean paper towels. Public bathrooms could be so gross. A speaker in the corner next to the ceiling blared whatever song it was being sung on stage for the people who had the call of nature. The other girl seemed to know the song well, as she began to sing along.

_He was a skater boi   
She said see ya later boi  
He wasn't good enough for her  
She had a pretty face  
But her head was up in space  
She needed to come back down to earth_

Sam had never heard it before, but that wasn't news to him. He didn't know much anymore because of the effect of all the leaps on his brain.

As the other girl went about getting the towels wet so as to clean the wound, Al appeared. The girl didn't seem to notice, but no one ever did, being as he was a hologram that no one but Sam could see and hear. Al was looking longingly at Sam's female companion, watching as she moved about gathering towels, extremely short skirt barely hiding her firm ass. Sam was used to this coming from Al and didn't pay much attention.

"Al!" He breathed in relief, causing his friend to divert his attention back to the bewildered time traveler. The other girl was beginning to tend his wounds as he said this, and it caused her to look at him in confusion then turned to stare in the same direction. Seeing nothing she turned back to him and waved her hand in front of his face.

"Yo!" She called. "Earth to Errin. Are ya with me girl?" Sam started and turned back to her. She took the opportunity to apply some iodine to the wound. Sam felt a small sting, but paid it no mind. The other girl looked at her strangely as she continued to dress the cut. "What," she asked teasingly, "no scream this time? No begging for mercy?" Sam just kept staring at her in confusion.

"Uh, no," he tried, "I guess not." He turned his head slightly and glared at Al. "What am I doing here?" he hissed.

"Errin Anne Brannon," the girl demanded, having heard the whispered question quite well in the empty bathroom. "Don't you _dare_ start now. You said you were fine with giving up those tickets!" Sam stared at her for a second as Al filled him in.

"That's Nicole Glahn, you are Errin Brannon, and the tickets she's talking about are tickets to the 2004 SciFi Convent..." he slapped the handlink a few times, forcing it to comply, "...Convention." He corrected, giving a smug look of satisfaction with the information he had just given before the realization of what he just said sank in. "Wait," he said, turning back to the handlink, "2004, that can't be right." He began to bang on the contraption some more as Sam covered up his earlier blunder.

"Well, ah," he stumbled, "Yeah. Of course I'm okay with it, Nicole..."

"Nicki," Al corrected absentmindedly as he continued to torture the poor computer in his hands. Sam glared at him for a second for not mentioning that fact earlier, but didn't dwell on it too long before returning his gaze to the girl before him with wet rags. "Sam, Ziggy's saying that you're in the year 2004, some time in the month of August."

"...Nicki," he amended. "Why wouldn't I be?" He hadn't been smooth enough; she'd noticed the use of her proper name and glared.

"Because you bought those tickets over a year ago," she stated. "You've been bitching about not being able to go because of that stupid exam for over a month."

"Exam?" Sam whispered to Al. Al banged the handlink a few more times before getting a response.

"Here it is," he said triumphantly. "You have a Literature Analysis exam in a week, the same time as the convention." Sam turned his attention back to Nicki. But she had heard the whisperings.

"Yes, the exam," she gritted. "You're the one who hounded me about it, and now you're forgetting it? Human!" The last she said as a mixed threat and insult. Sam didn't get it. Without a beat, Nicki noticed. Sam was starting to guess that these two were more than just close. He didn't want to think about how close, though. Nicki's face became very concerned, and she dabbed at the wound softly. "Are you okay," she soothed. "You usually never miss that one."

"Uh," Sam stuttered, not knowing what she meant. He turned to Al for answers, but he was banging on the handlink once again.

"Damn it, Ziggy," he cursed. He turned then, in shock and began yelling at some unknown person. "What are you doing here?" he asked angrily. "Get out! Go!" Sam watched Al shove someone out the imaging chamber door. For a brief second he saw the girl from his reflection, laughing childishly as Al pushed her. She seemed to be saying something, but Sam couldn't hear what. When she was out of the imaging room, Al turned back to him.

"I'm sorry, Sam," he apologized. "What were you saying?"

"She said I never miss 'that one'," he barely did more than mouth, "what does that mean?" Al shrugged.

"I don't know," he said. He turned over his shoulder with an irritated look then a moment later sighed in defeat. Turning back to Sam he explained: "Sam, Errin says she can help with this stuff more than Ziggy or me. She's gonna be in here telling me what to tell you in situations like this, k?" Sam smiled in acknowledgement. This was going to be interesting.

------

"Ooo!" Errin squealed as she watched herself and Nicki in the women's bathroom. She didn't seem to think it odd, or at least didn't show any signs of being perplexed. She was jumping up and down, hands clasped together under her chin in a classic juvenile manner. "Oh what's going on? Hey, is that Sk8er Boi?" Al shot a heated glare at her and willed her to calm down; she caught on.

"Sam's having trouble with what to say," he answered as if to a child. She glared at him in return.

"You don't have to treat me like a kid," she retorted. "Just 'cause I act like one doesn't mean I am one." Al was taken aback by this, but decided to ignore it.

"Well at least you know your faults," he replied. He wasn't even paying attention to his friend, who was only hearing one side of the conversation.

"Al," his friend coughed loudly. Al turned back to the projection before him. Nicki looked as well, but dismissed it as she busied herself elsewhere.

"Yeah?" Al asked.

"What is going on?"

"Oh, uh, nothing. Just having a little chat with our...friend."

"Well that's great, now what do I say?" Al started to say something but stopped, turning to the now visible image of him hanging off of his arm excitedly.

"She says, 'what did she say?'" he relayed.

"She called me a human, and then got concerned about something." Al looked at the leapee standing beside him. Sam could see her lips moving, but couldn't hear her. Al voiced her commands.

"Sam, she says next time, call her a..." Al looked back at the patient with an expression of incredulity, "call her a, uh...a hobbit." Sam almost laughed. Al looked so embarrassed at having just said that. He hurried to translate the explanation as the words rushed out of the real Errin's mouth. "It's a joke between them," he relayed to his friend. "She calls Nicki 'Hobbit' because she's short and loves food, but doesn't like to go anywhere or do anything 'adventurous' like camping and hiking, and...WHAT!?!?!" Al went very red as he refused to repeat what she had said. The girl laughed so hard she broke away from Al and Sam lost sight of her. "No!" Al protested to the unseen observer, but finally gave in. "She...she says...'cause her toes are hairy, too."

Sam couldn't hold it any more. He began to laugh so hard he fell off the counter and hit the floor. His breasts peeked out more over the top of his shirt from the jarring of the impact, and his skirt flew up to rest on the bend of his seated waist, but he didn't notice. He just kept laughing.

"Sam!" Al yelled in alarm, Errin didn't seem as jovial as she grabbed Al's hand and rushed forward the slight distance between them and Sam's giggling body. Nicki hurriedly bent down to assist her friend and Al found himself staring straight at the girls round, supple posterior. Al stared at it only for a second before concern for his friend won his emotions.

"Errin, are you okay?" Nicki asked frantically. She seemed more than worried about her comrade and Al found himself unconsciously logging them as an item. He bent next to the real Errin by Sam's side.

"Sam?" he questioned. "Sam, are you alright?" Errin was saying something, too, but Sam didn't know what.

"Yeah," he replied to both parties, "yeah, I'm fine." He began to sit up, but neglected to duck away from the counter under which he had landed. He banged his head forcefully against the underside of the linoleum. "Ow!" He grabbed his forehead as three pairs of eyes watched.

"Woman," Nicki growled. "If you're doing this to make me feel sorry for you, you're dead."

"No," Sam groaned as he sat up. "No, I'm not, I just...I'm fine." Nicki looked at him skeptically. "I'll be fine," he assured. "Why don't you go back out, and I'll catch up."

"Fine," she huffed, clearly hurt by something he said. "I'll just be outside the door."

Sam and Al both watched as she stormed out. As the door slammed shut, they turned to Errin, who seemed exasperated for no reason. Sam could barely catch the word 'drama' on her lips. Al seemed relieved at whatever she had said and turned to redistribute the phrase to Sam.

"She said 'she's being a drama queen'," he gestured at the door before turning back to Ziggy. "Don't worry about it; she's just putting on a show." Sam didn't seem as relieved. Errin noticed and poked Al to get his attention. "She says 'she does it all the time, ignore it'," he relayed carelessly. Sam shook his head and decided he had better finish cleaning up soon.

"What am I doing here, Al?" Sam asked as he put the finishing touches on his make-shift bandage. Al looked up from the handlink.

"Uh," he stalled, "I can't tell you, Sam." He motioned with his head at Errin. Sam watched her roll her eyes, then say something and turn, disappearing as she lost contact with Al. Al turned to him and explained. "She said there's a butterfly bandage and some gauze in her belt purse." The imaging chamber door opened behind him as Sam looked on his person for a purse.

"What's a belt purse?" Sam asked, realizing he had no idea what he was looking for. Al looked back at the imaging chamber door which stood open and listened. The door closed and he turned back to his friend again.

"A purse built in to your belt. There should be a pocket on the left side." Sam located it and pulled out the well stocked mini first aide kit. taking out what he needed he asked again.

"What am I here for, Al?"

------

Errin stood outside the imaging chamber door indecisively. Overhead she heard Ziggy's voice request her to return to her room. Errin sighed.

"But it's so boring in there," she whined. "Could you at least give me something to do?"

"Such as?" Ziggy asked kindly.

"You're a super computer," Errin suggested menacingly, "so don't play stupid with me. I want internet in my room. I'm gonna be stuck there a lot, right?"

"Of course," Ziggy replied with false courtesy. Errin thought for a second as to which she had replied; the question or the demand. "I'll allow you access to the internet through the console in your room."

"Sweetness!" she cheered. She ran down the hall to her room and plopped down in front of the screen, waiting for Ziggy to reroute a connection. As soon as the link was up, she went to the server and began to type a message. _I didn't learn how to crack a computer just to write html_, she thought as she encrypted the message for the date and time to appear. She smiled as she hit the send button and waited for Nicki to get the text message. "Two minutes from now," she squealed to herself, "Nicki will get the shock of her life!"

-------

"Al," Sam hissed, "what am I doing here?" Al looked at the handlink intently and bashed the side of it with the palm of his hand. Finally he gave up on it.

"We don't know, Sam," he said.

"Well could you please hurry up and tell me?" Al looked at him, slightly hurt. Sam instantly regretted snapping at his friend and began to voice it, but Al cut him off.

"We're trying, Sam," he assured. "But Ziggy won't tell me anything. She says that there's an error in the data or something." Sam knew that was bad. He couldn't remember Ziggy ever having data related errors like this, but then again, he couldn't remember a lot. Sam pondered whether to push the subject further, but before he could act either way, Al's handlink began to blip noisily. Al quickly scanned the readout and turned to the leaper again. Sam saw deep in his eyes that something was horribly wrong.

"What's wrong, Al?" he asked firmly. Al just looked at him with helplessness and pain welling in his brown orbs. Sam felt the pit of his stomach give out. Al only got that look when it was really bad. He already knew it meant someone was going to die, but who? He prayed he hadn't made things worse by infuriating Nicki.

"Errin disappears in a week," he conveyed in a hushed tone. "She was last seen at her Literature exam, and then in two years, her body is found in a runoff ditch outside of Estacada. Or at least, they think it was her; she was too decomposed to tell. They i.d.ed her by what she was wearing and a few pieces of jewelry." Sam felt the affects of the words sink in. Al continued, "Ziggy says that before this little blow up with Nicki, Errin just disappeared, but had never been found." The handlink blipped again, and Al looked at it for a second before smacking it.

"What is it?" Sam asked, hoping it was some better news about this leap, like Errin wasn't really going to die. Al continued to manhandle the handlink for a minute, rattling it about and beating it mercilessly.

"Ziggy's on the fritz," he replied, still abusing the small electric devise in his hand. "She can't seem to make up her mind whether Errin disappears or dies, or even existed. I'm gonna go see what's wrong with her." Al stepped through the imaging chamber door and left Sam alone in the women's bathroom. The Leaper didn't linger long, quickly straightening his clothes and heading for the door. Before he ever got there, though, Nicki came in screaming about some kind of sick joke.

"Oh boy," Sam whimpered to himself miserably. This was going to be difficult.

-------

Nicki had been waiting outside the bathroom door for a few minutes when her cell phone went off. She pulled it out and read the text message sprawled over the screen.

"_Nik Sam is me Read ur mail"_ Nicki stared at it for a second in confusion. It wasn't marked as being from anyone she knew. For that matter, it didn't seem to be from anyone; where the sender's id would be was a blank. She tried to decipher the cryptic message for a moment when the music stopped. In the lull she heard Errin talking to herself in the bathroom. She heard brief snatches of what she was saying through the door.

"Al..." Errin was saying. "Well...tell me..." Errin lost the rest of it when the music came on, but she really didn't need to know. The name had sealed the fate. Gritting her teeth she slammed open the door to face a very startled Errin who had just been heading out.

"WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?" She roared. Errin began to panic before her and looked in the distance for answers. When she didn't seem to get any, she turned her focus back to her friend.

"What," she stuttered, "what do you mean?" Nicki glared at her.

"I don't know how you did it, but this message isn't funny," she growled. "Get over it! Just go and skip the damned test!" Errin opened her mouth, then turned back to the counter with relief.

"Uh," she stammered a second later, "you mean my text message?"

-------

Al had gone to retrieve the real Errin when Nicki came into the restroom. He exited the imaging chamber to find her standing outside the door waiting for him. He began to say something, but before he could Errin was shoving him back into the imaging chamber and following close behind so as not to be shut out. Finally regaining his voice he turned to her.

"What are you doing?" he asked. She watched as the bathroom began to come into view before them, ignoring his question. Al looked also and saw Nicki had entered the restroom, and was not at all happy. The girl beside him squealed and leapt up and down happily.

"Oh good," she exclaimed, "she got my message." Al stared at her for a second before turning back to Sam, who had just seen them enter. Relief spread across his face as he saw Al, who was listening to Errin directed a line for Sam to tell Nicki.

"Sam," Al quickly translated, "Errin says she sent a text message to Nicki a minute ago. She says just play along."

"You mean my text message?" Sam quickly repeated to Nicki.

"Yes, your text message," Nicki huffed. "Jeeze Errin, don't play stupid with me." Sam shot a quick glance at Al before turning back to the other girl. Errin had refused to tell Al any more about the message or how she had gotten it to Nicki, and Al hadn't been able to get her to help Sam out of this predicament more than she just had. Instead, he just watched as Sam tried to act as in character as he could without knowing the slightest thing about who he was. Nicki seemed to buy it, however, and soon backed off, leaving him in the bathroom alone again. As Sam turned back to them, Errin finally relayed a new message for Al to convey.

"Okay," he said, "Errin says you gotta follow her out into the mosh pit, whatever that is, and dance with her." Sam looked at him in confusion, but he only shrugged to his friend. "I don't know any more than you do," he apologized. Errin turned to him with her arms crossed.

"A mosh pit is like the floor area in the Queens Theatre," she explained. "Don't worry; I'll help him with the dancing." Al nodded and relayed the information to Sam.

"So the entire area out there is a mosh pit?" Sam asked. Errin laughed and looked at Al.

"No!" she giggled. "Tell him it's front and center. The outer sides are for the less energetic." Al did as he was told, and shooed Sam out of the bathroom, him and Errin following close behind. Sam looked lost when he left the ladies room. Al could see why; there was a massive sea of people out there. Finding Nicki would be worse than finding a needle in a haystack.

"I'll have Ziggy center me on her, Sam," Al said. Errin shook her head.

"That won't be necessary," she said. "She's right over there." She pointed into the sea of people, but Al couldn't tell who she was talking about.

"Where?" he asked. Rolling her eyes she pointed again. Al still didn't see the other girl.

"Ugh!" Errin moaned. "Tell Sam to go straight." Al did. A few seconds later she changed course. "Now go to the left, but keep moving forward. Like a northeast move." Al told Sam about the change in direction, and he did just that. Al was finding it very unpleasant watching thousands of people move through him as Sam moved along. Errin, he noticed, didn't seem to mind or even care. Looking a little closer as they waited for Sam to converge on Nicki Al noticed that Errin seemed to be adjusting to being a hologram quite well. With a chuckle he voiced it.

"You seem to be getting along okay as a hologram," he said. "I'm surprised. It took me a couple leaps to get used to it." He felt his joviality at the topic fade when she turned to him. There was sadness in her eyes as she shrugged.

"It's just the next step to being invisible, Al," she said nonchalantly.

The statement was unsettling to Al, but he couldn't put his finger on it. He forced himself to shake the matter off when Errin pointed at a girl that Al this time could make out as her friend.

"There she is," Errin stated, and Al pointed it out to Sam as well. The leaper quickly zeroed in on the other girl and stood patiently for her to notice him. Errin snorted and shook her head. "She's not going to acknowledge him," she told Al.

"Sam," Al yelled over the noise. His friend turned to him expectantly. "She's not going to pay attention to you." He was about to continue when Errin turned to face him full on. Even in the forma-suit she had about her a kind of under-dressed quality. He quickly caught himself and returned his eyes to her face.

"Can you dance any of the modern dances?" she asked seriously.

"Uh, no," Al stammered. He wasn't even sure what she was talking about.

"Fine," she huffed. "Have Sam follow my lead." She grabbed his arm and stood behind Nicki as he relayed the message. Errin nodded then began to dance in a way that even made him blush. "Get behind me," she instructed as she kept up the grinding moves she was performing against her friends back. She smiled wickedly at him for a second. "Don't let go," she said provocatively. She pulled him into her back and clasped his hands on her hips. He almost felt uncomfortable standing behind this sultry piece of ass with her wiggling sexily all over him. He barely noticed that she was dancing with Nicki as if she were there. It looked as if the two were touching as the hologram of her friend danced with her. Sam watched in horror, Al with lust.

"You seem to be pretty good at this," he observed hoarsely. She nodded at him with a cheeky smile, then turned to Sam and motioned with her head for him to come ape her. Al noticed he seemed over hesitant. Finally he came and filled in for her, passing into her body and clumsily reproducing her moves.

"Oh man," the real Errin whined. "He's gonna get my ass in the burner dancing like that." She let out a small sigh of exasperation before breaking contact and moving around to the front of Nicki. Sam immediately seemed to panic since he couldn't see his instructor in this lewd dance. Errin didn't seem to notice.

"Errin," Al suggested, "Maybe you should help him some more." He felt a slight repulsion at watching his friend try and mimic the seductive sway of his female host; he was failing miserably.

"Why don't you?" She replied airily. Al choked a little and stared at her.

"What is it, Al?" Sam asked worriedly. Al turned to him briefly and motioned that it was fine.

"Nothin'," he said, turning back to Errin he pointed to his poor humiliated friend. "I can't!" he exclaimed. "What am I supposed to do? I'd look worse than him." Errin shook her head and came back to him, still staring at Nicki.

"She hates me," she said to herself. She looked up at Al's worn face and shrugged. "Sure you can. It's just like sex." Al balked a little at this and she rolled her eyes. "You follow her body. She does all the real work, you just..." she smoothed her hands down her sides and wiggled a little for emphasis, "go with it." Al still wasn't convinced and she knew it. "Ugh!" she stamped. "Here; follow." She turned away from him and pressed her back against him again. A look of relief washed over Sam's face as he saw Errin again, and Nicki looked over her should at him quizzically. She shrugged and turned back to jig quickly, however, and Errin had Al's attention firmly planted on her as she slid down his body and back up. AL let out a short gasp and took a step back, but she had hooked his leg and he didn't get far.

"That's called a booty call," she told him. "You did perfect, now quit being so jumpy." Al looked her over for a second and sighed resolutely. He had to admit, the thought of that body all over him was starting to overshadow his nerves about doing this in front of Sam.

"Oh what the heck," he finally conceded. Errin smiled again and returned to his training quickly.

"You'll have fun," she chuckled, "Trust me."

A/N Okay....tell me what you think. Thank ya for readin'! And no, this isn't some sick sex filled fic about Al getting it on with the leapee or anything. VERY opposite. NO the two (Nicki & Errin) are NOT gay! So don't even ask.


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